Last week, former Director of the Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club Dr. Ken Kramer was one of three Texans honored as “Rainmaker of the Year.” Dr. Kramer, who served as the Chapter’s first director from 1989 until his retirement in 2012, was honored for his lifelong advocacy and success on water policy issues in Texas. Importantly, Kramer was the contract lobbyist for Sierra Club before he became director and has remained an important volunteer since his retirement in 2012. The Rainmaker Awards Dinner is an annual high--profile celebration of Texas water champions organized by the Texas Water Foundation. This year, it was held at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin on September 29th.
Along with Dr. Kramer, the Texas Water Foundation also honored Andrew “Andy” Sansom, who was the founding director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, and Kinnan Golemon, a former regulator and industry lobbyist famed for his ability to reach agreements on complex water issues with multiple stakeholders.
As the Texas Water Foundation noted, “Born before the drought of the 1950s, Sansom, Golemon, and Kramer lived through the transformation of Texas from rural to urban. They started their professional careers as Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon and as Texas voters narrowly decided against funding a canal to the Mississippi with nuclear-powered pumps.
Each man took a different career path and achieved significant milestones, but all three have one thing in common: a trademark characteristic of working towards complex solutions by building bridges and making room for the needs and values of others.”
In addition to handing the three water pioneers their awards – actually literally handed to them by their daughters – the three men engaged in an impromptu panel discussion about their lives and legacies. For his part, Dr. Kramer said his proudest moment was watching the Sierra Club win an endangered species lawsuit over pumping of the Edwards Aquifer. Dr. Kramer noted that an internal poll conducted by the Sierra Club during that time in San Antonio found that only 15% of the local residents had a favorable opinion of the Sierra Club.
Years later, however, officials who had excoriated the Sierra Club today recognize that because of the lawsuit, San Antonio and the San Antonio Water System had implemented leading water conservation programs, restricted pumping, and helped preserve the Comal and San Marcos springs and important endangered species. Sometimes doing something unpopular is the right thing to do.
During the festival, the Texas Water Foundation also showed their new video titled “This is Texas Water,” which was created following the approval of the funding by the Legislature and Texas voters to create a statewide water awareness campaign. Dr. Kramer and the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter advocated for a water conservation and awareness campaign for decades, and it was wonderful to see it finally come to pass. Attendees were also surprised with a guest appearance by legendary blues and R & B singer Barbara Lynn, whose “You'll Lose A Good Thing” is the featured song in the campaign video..
Dr. Kramer’s legacy reminds us what sustained advocacy can accomplish, even when it feels like swimming against the current. Help carry Dr. Kramer’s vision forward by supporting the Sierra Club’s continued work to protect our water, land, wildlife, and communities!